Cause when she's there with me, I know where I'm supposed to be
by toomanyfeelsforapotato
Summary: James Potter has never been more than an annoying git in Lily Evans' eyes. The moments he calls her Lily Potter, his confessions of love for her, Lily hates him for everything. But soon, James changes for her. He matures into the man who protects everyone he loves. Lily falls in love with this man, and never lets him go.
1. Chapter 1

Lily sighed.

Lots of girls at Hogwarts would have given anything for James Potter to repeatedly confess his eternal love for them, but frankly, there's nothing Lily wanted less. OWLs were coming up, and the last thing she needed was a distraction; there was a picture of Potter and his stupid gang right next to the dictionary definition of 'distraction'.

As, Potter sang the last verse of the poem, '_So, will you go out with me, E—vans?',_ she shrugged.

'Let me see, umm…..' Lily pretended to think as James' face lit up.

She walked up to him, her face dangerously close to his, and her lips formed one word, 'NO.' Though unhappy at her umpteenth rejection, James had to supress a smirk, this girl was something different.

James began singing a new song, which really sounded like something Peeves would have composed, but smacking him over the head with her Potions textbook, she threw her braid on her shoulder and walked away, more bored with his tactics than angry.

'Could he come up with a single way to ask her out which didn't make him seem like the utter and complete git he is? I mean, seriously. A poem, engraving ILY L.E on that stupid Snitch of his, a song Merlin, what is with that boy?' Lily thought, as she shot a hex at Potter who was still trying to follow her.

As James danced madly around the Common Room as a result of her hex, Lily was, at last, able to get away. Screeching 'Shut it, Black!' to Sirius who had tears in his eyes from laughing that hard, she disappeared around a corner.

Finally finding some peace and quiet in her own dormitory, she pulled out a huge pile of books from her bag, and began to study. A few hours later, a voice rang out from behind the books, 'Evans, did you borrow the whole library? Pince won't let me borrow more than one at a time, and you get a, what, entire section?' Kyla spoke in her clear voice, with just that little twinge of playfulness.

'That _is_ your fault. You _did _get chocolate all over the last book you borrowed.' Lily teased with a small smile playing at her lips.

'No one asked for your version of things, smartarse.' She plopped onto her bed, and clutching and aiming her scarlet pillow, she threw the pillow at a laughing Lily, ensuing in a pillow fight. Feathers flew around as a redhead and blondie screeched and laughed.

Ten minutes later, Kyla was asleep on her bed. Lily just sighed; she still had three books to go. She screwed up her face in concentration and quickly went through the ingredients for a Calming Draught; she had a hunch she'd need it soon enough. An hour passed, and Lily Evans reread the last page, and closed it. She banged her head on her table lightly, exhausted. She pulled her hair out of its elaborate braid and ran her long and delicate fingers through her crimson locks. Pulling her hair up into a bun, she rummaged through her trunk, and settled for her oversized Beatles T-Shirt.

As she packed away her books, her head shot up, as she realised she left her Potions textbook in the Common Room. She hadn't even finished her homework! She swore under her breath, and began thinking. She was dead tired but at the same time, could she risk losing the book? Imagining Professor Slughorn's face if that happened, she tiptoed out of the girls' dormitories.

Lily was halfway down the stairs when she realised that all she was wearing was her shirt. Her face went as red as her hair, but she calmed down once she remembered that it was two in the morning, and that no one would be up. She crept down, not wanting to wake anyone, her footsteps inaudible. Her bare legs felt cold against the December chill, but she rubbed them together, telling herself it would only be a while before she would be asleep in her warm bed. Blowing on her palms, she neared the Common Room.

A warm yellow light shone from the room as Lily thought, 'Is someone in there? Merlin, how am I going to go in?' She had left her wand in her room, and had no way of knowing if anyone was in there. She listened for a few seconds, and though she thought she heard a laugh, she still went in.

'Beatles, is it, Evans? Got to hand it to anyone who listens to 'em. Tellin' ya Prongs, she's too perfect for you.' Sirius' smooth voice rang out from behind Lily.

As she whipped her head around, Sirius winked at Lily, his mouth curling into a smile. "Ah, shut it, Padfoot.'

James shoved him off the couch and pretended to smooth out his hair, when all he did was mess it up more. Sirius cleared his throat and had to bite his lip to keep himself from laughing.

'Well then, I'll leave you two to whatever you want to do.' He raised his voice on purpose waking up the sleeping Pettigrew and Lupin. Remus threw something at Sirius' head and went back to sleeping half on the floor and couch, and Peter rolled around until he fell back asleep.

Kyla came grumbling down the stairs, her usually perfect blond hair sticking up in every direction. She caught James' eye and mumbled, 'Next time you have your late night visits with Potter boy here, try not to wake me up.'

Kyla rubbed her eyes and looked around he deserted room, and caught sight of Sirius. When their eyes met, they both went inexplicably red. Kyla turned on her heel, and rushed to her room, Sirius did the same.

Lily's eyes searched the room for her book, and found it clutched in James' hand. 'Potter, my book?' James went red and awkwardly held it out.

'I meant to bring it to you, but Merlin knows what your stairs become. I remembered Slughorn gave us the moonstone assignment, so I did yours. It is Saturday tomorrow, I know there's no school, but if I know anything about you, it's that you finish off your work as soon as possible. I tried the best I could, though you might want to edit it a bit. I tried coming up a couple of times, but it didn't work. Sorry about that.'

Lily took her book from his hand along with the foot long essay and studied his face. He was sincere, and he really meant it. It was almost something that a normal human being would do. When she told him exactly what she thought, James smiled a genuine smile, one that spread all over his chiseled face. It was nothing like the half smiles, the 'seductive' smiles he'd give her every day, it was a dorky smile that brought a smile to_her _face.

Lily smiled back at him, the light from the flames flickered in her eyes, and turned to go back upstairs.

'Lily, one last thing.' She stood facing him as James winked, 'That Beatles shirt is amazing.' 'Not as much as you though!' He added before whirling off into his own dormitories.

'Still the same.' she muttered as she pulled up her blankets around herself, her eyes drooping under the weight of fifteen library books. But that night as she slept, it wasn't the warmth of the fire that turned her cheeks red, it was James Potter.


	2. Chapter 2

Lily woke up the next morning with a start.

Kyla was frantically brushing her hair into a braid and was desperately trying to smooth out her dress lying on her cot. Wait a second, dress?

Lily cleared her throat to make her presence felt, and Kyla turned around as red as Lily's hair. 'Hey, umm, Evans. You're up already?' Kyla clearly wanted to avoid this scenario, so this made her all the more curious.

'Williams, why're you smoothing out a dress? And why're you trying to sneak out at what, 7 in the morning?'

Her cheeks flared as she fumbled for an excuse. 'I, uhhh, have a group study session with, uhhhh, Renee.' Kyla smacked her forehead as soon as she realised what she just said.

'Renee? As in Slytherin, Renee Parker? You told me you've never really liked her. So tell me the truth. What's with you?' Lily pulled the covers tight around herself as she glared at her.

Under Lily's gaze, she finally crumbled and blurted out the truth. 'Black's taking me to Hogsmeade, he's knows one of those secret passages into Honeydukes. It's a date.'

'Ha!' Lily punched the air as Kyla slumped against a cushion. 'I knew it! You two lovebirds blush each time you even look at each other. It's only a matter of time before the whole school knows!' Lily teased her jabbing a finger at her and an imaginary Sirius Black.

'You can't tell anyone, Lil, promise me that!' Kyla begged Lily; her blue eyes open wide. Lily brushed her off with a filck of her hand and slight smirk.

'Almost everyone knows, Ky. Courtney, Alexis, Tim and Amelia from Hufflepuff; Nessa, Raychelle, and Minnie from Ravenclaw, _and _Renee Parker, who apparently has a crush on Black, all asked me if it was true!' Lily broke out int0 peals of laughter on her bed and after seeing the comical side of things, so did Kyla.

Quickly getting to the point, Lily asked Ky, 'Now, since you're going out, are you sure you want to wear that?' She pointed to the short pink dress lying on Kyla's unmade bed. 'It is December, and I don't want my best friend dying of frostbite anytime soon.'

Kyla giggled and changed into a much warmer outfit and pulled on a cap. Just before she left the room, she turned to Lily. 'Oh, Ev? Sirius asked me to bring you along, if you happened to catch me(which he did seem rather sure about). He promised me that James won't be there, okay? Please come along, in case things get awkward.'

Lily weighed two things, whether she loved Honeydukes more, or whether she hated Black more. Finally deciding that chocolate outweighs everything, she gave into Kyla's continual begging. 'I'll go, but I'm going to sit away from you both.' Making a disgusted noise, she said, 'I don't want to see you both snogging.'

She showered quickly, and let her hair loose. Putting on the warmest clothes she could find, Lily crept out of her dormitory with Kyla at her heels. They met Sirius in the corridor, and he looked pleased to see them. He turned to Lily and whispered, 'Thank you for coming. I need you to help her get out of trouble if we're caught. I can squirm my way out, but she'll probably need some help.'

Lily raised her eyebrows and nodded. 'Since when did Black get so caring? And why does he think Williams can't get out on her own, she's better at sneaking around than I am!' she thought to herself silently as she crawled into the cellar.

After buying a bagful of sweets at Honeydukes, the trio made its way to The Three Broomsticks. All the while Lily had a suspicious eye on Sirius. 'Three Butterbeers, eh Rosie?' Sirius said with a flirtatious smile to the barmaid, Madam Rosmerta. She turned around and smiled at Sirius.

'Well, well, if it isn't darling Black! Where's that Potter boy, I never see you both without each other. Peering over his shoulder, she raised her eyebrows and muttered, 'If I didn't know better, I'd say he was here, but clearly, he's nowhere to be seen today. Dusting three bottles with a piece of cloth, she passed them over the counter to Sirius with a wink, saying t was on the house.

'Unbelievable.' Lily muttered to herself as she sat alone at a table chugging down her Butterbeer. 'Stupd Black flirts with everybody, including a _barmaid_. Tsk tsk, does no one have any standards these days?' A chair next to her moved slightly, as if someone was sitting on it, and inched closer to hear what she was saying. 'Potter. Damn him' she thought angrily.

To confirm her thoughts, she clutched blindly at the chair, her fist closing tight around smooth and shimmery cloth. She smiled, 'Gotcha.' In one rapid stroke, she pulled of the cloak, revealing James Potter underneath. She pulled it off quickly, nobody noticed, except Sirius across the room who seemed to be trying extremely hard not to burst out laughing.

'Hey there, Evans.' James tried to be casual but the look on his face said it all; he had not expected this, and had no idea how to proceed.

'Screw you, Potter.' Lily punched his arm, her face red with rage. She knew it from the start, there was something off. Judging from Kyla's expression, she had no idea James would be here either. She stormed off back to the castle with Sirius at her heels.

'That would be wonderful Lily, but here? Not really. The prefect's bathroom is a nice place to do it.' She had half a mind to slap him, turning half of his stupid face red, but knew better than draw attention to herself, and make a scene. Before James could give her his signature wink, she stormed out of the room, only to come doubling back.

Breathlessly, she blurted out, 'McGongallisheresoaretheotherteachersohgodwhatdoIdo?' 'Calm down' James said, one hand on her shoulder, and raising his eyebrows. 'Explain what happened first.'

'McGonagall is here. So are the other teachers. My reputation as Head Girl is gone, if I don't get out soon! I can't even get to Honeydukes!' Lily was flustered and the cold left her cheeks pink.

'Then,' said James crouching and spreading the Cloak over both of them, 'it's my duty as Head Boy to help you out.' He pulled Lily closer and they walked together out of the door, where Minerva 'could have sworn someone whispered, 'Nice dress, Minnie!'

Lily had her doubts with being so close to James Potter at first, but she had to admit it was fun. They walked together as one, co-ordinated movements, the occasional times when James would pull her out of the way of a random couple on the streets, the times it would be so quiet, you could hear each other breathe, and the times when they'd be so close to each other, all she could do was look at him. Lily had never noticed how handsome James looked, his chiseled face, that messy hair which she now sort of liked, the way each time Lily squeezed his hand, there'd be a twinkle in his eye and colour would slowly creep into his cheeks.

James himself had never been so close to her before, and he realised, he knew nothing about her. He had never known the way her beautiful eyes would soften when she would see a little kid on the road. He never had known that wild expression which would light up her entire face when they'd dodge people on the street. He never knew how beautiful she looked when she simply, let herself go.

When they finally got back to the castle, Lily had rethought her entire opinion of James Potter. He was no longer an, as she used to so eloquently put it, arrogant toerag. He was a sweet and perhaps just a little bit proud dork. She didn't hate him anymore, but she didn't love him either. She liked him, she really did.

She smiled at James, wait did she call him James now? She spun around, and began walking to the Common Room. James ran upto her from behind and put a hand on her shoulder. 'Uhmm, yeah, Lily? D'ya still hate me?'

A small smile played at her mouth, and she said, 'I don't. I don't _hate you_, but I don't _love you_. You're still sort of an arse to others, you know?'

'And if I promise not to be? If I give up bullying even that twat Snape? I'll change, if it's for you, I swear I will. ' James asked earnestly.

'Then', Lily said, mimicking James' seductive tone, 'we'll see what happens.'


	3. Chapter 3

Pushing her way through the crowd of girls that gathered around each time James Potter was in a two mile radius, Lily finally found a quiet spot next to the Great Lake and pulled a book out of her bulging bag along with a bottle of Butterbeer, taking a gulp each time she mastered a spell.

With two empty bottles soon at hand and successfully Vanishing them, Lily closed her book with a thump. James came running behind her; he seemed to have finally got himself rid of that new 'James Potter Fan Club' that the seventh, sixth and fifth years had formed.

'Hey Lily.' James tried to put on the seductive tone he usually used with her, but ever since their 'date' in Hogsmeade, he knew that Lily saw him for the lovesick dork he was.

'James.' Lily nodded curtly before turning around to hide the color creeping onto her cheeks.

Ever since their 'date', she'd been awkward around James. Her eternal hate for him had kept her from stuttering around him, but now that it was replaced by what you could call, a sort of wonky friendship, Lily would now blush around him for no reason, resulting in Sirius nudging James and Kyla winking at her, whispering, 'Ooh, Potter and Evans now is it?'. Though this would usually end in Kyla and Sirius catching sight of each other and marching the other way trying to keep a straight face and not blush which would take the attention off 'Jily' or whatever the seventh years called them, it was still extremely embarrassing.

A sudden bag of chocolates landing on her lap brought her back to reality.

'Ev, well, I know you hated me and Black back then, so I figured you must really love chocolate to come along, well, I got you this.' James smiled, and not those half smiles he'd always given her, but a smile that stretched all across his face and made her smile as well.

'That was umm.. nice of you uhh.. Ja- Potter. Thanks, I guess.' Lily punched herself mentally with each word she spoke, why was she this awkward in front of a guy she liked?

Jolting her head back, she realised what she just thought. Liked? James? Well she did, but it was complicated. She didn't like him like _that _but she did like him a _bit_.

James' voice cleared her head of the confusing thoughts. Smiling back at him and _finally _succeeding to keep from blushing, she moved over just a little bit, just enough to show him that she wanted him to sit down.

Happily, Prongs plopped down next to her and they began to talk.

The conversation progressed smoothly, with each of them forgetting what was around them. From The Beatles(which brought back some memories), to The Rolling Stones, to how interesting Professor McGonagall's lectures were, to how much of a git Snivellus was.

They laughed together, 'fangirled' which seemed to be a new term for James, and when the talk wheeled around to Severus, James held her close while she cried.

'There's something I've been meaning to tell you, James.' Her tone was serious now, and she needed to get this off her chest.

Not wanting to disrupt her thoughts, James too simply nodded.

'That day, when Severus called me a..' her voice broke off, but she seemed to steel herself when James squeezed her hand, 'A Mudblood. When he called me that, I didn't realise it then, but it meant a lot to me, to have you on my side. These aren't exactly times where people treat everyone equal, but to have you on my side, to have you on my side meant a lot. You and Black, you both are the only Purebloods I've ever met who haven't treated me like I wasn't dirt. The other Blacks, Malfoy, they all hate you for it, but you really don't care. That means so much to me.'

Lily struggled to keep a straight face as she tuned to smile at him; one look from him was all it took to calm her down.

'Thank you, James. For everything.' Lily hugged, now letting all the emotions she had bottled up inside her for so long flow.

'You're not supposed to thank me, Evans. I should be the one thanking you. I was a git, an extremely annoying git before I met you. You made me want to change, you made me want to be _normal_. So thank _you_, Lily. For everything.' James squeezed her hand, getting up, sensing that she needed some space.

The crowd of girls swarmed around him again, James' messy hair the only thing she could see of him now. Lily sighed as her head was full of thoughts, but a shout from James was what it took to clear her head, with only one thought remaining. She loved James Potter.

She pulled out her wand and pushed her way through the mob surrounding him. As she kissed him, she whispered one thing in his ear, 'Mine'.

Pettigrew, Lupin and Black hooting behind her didn't matter, Kyla screaming, 'Jily!' didn't matter, the girls cursing her didn't matter either. All that mattered, was that they were together.


End file.
